I am in Lakeland - Polk County Brighthouse. I have had 2 S-Series CableCards in my S3 for over 6 months. Recently they seem to lose thier activation repeatedly. Right now they have been "rehit" by phone support multiple times. One is working again, and one will only show me basic cable. I am about to reboot and see if that will help.

I have scheduled service visits twice. On first visit the tech had no cablecards. On second visit the tech came in with two old cards he had "found in his truck." I said thanks but no thanks and sent him on his way. My signal strength is good. Any ideas?

I had two cablecards installed in my S3 yesterday by Insight Cable in Indiana. It went fairly smoothly. However, the tech mentioned that he had had previous problems after a few months of the cablecards losing ther activation. It appears to be a documented problem. Not sure if he was referring specifically to a Tivo problem or a TV in general. I don't recall if he mentioned what the appropriate fix was.

I'm in Pinellas county FL (BHN Tampabay). I had major problems with them mulitple no-shows by the installer, 7 calls to BHN CS, 2 arguments with CS reps etc..) getting a card for my TiVoHD, but I'll make a long story short and tell you after I got rude and belligerent with them (mentioning the FCC mandate) miraculously they suddenly supported TiVo... it was like magic.

Got an M-card, no problem (during a 12-hour service window of course).

I must believe it is absolutely POLICY for them to do whatever they can to discourage you from using TiVo. All the stories sound the same... put on hold... talks to supervisor... "oh, we do support it." I can't begin to imagine how many customers TiVo has lost because they didn't visit these forums or otherwise get in the know regarding their rights to a cable card.

I scheduled my HDTivo cablecard install with Brighthouse in Hernando county, and the customer service guy insisted I needed 2 cards, since he did not understand my explanation about the M-Cards. I went ahead and scheduled the install rather than argue with someone who only knew what the notice from the home office said. (At least he did not try too hard to get me onto their DVR.)

I plan to call back and speak to someone else who may understand what an M-Card is before the install Monday. Does anyone have any advice on who to ask for to get the M-Cards? No way am I paying them for an extra card.

Good luck with that! After talking to 6 different reps and a supervisor over the last 3 hours, I was finally able to schedule an appointment for another CableCard installation on Friday.

That's right... it took all of that just to SCHEDULE a cablecard installation!

Problem... when I returned my HD Box, the morons removed my HD Tier. So now HBO HD, SHO HD, and all the 1300 channels are gone. Reps had no clue how to put them back on because the system kept telling them they couldn't give me HD channels since I have no HD cable box on my account. I explained to them that the cablecard should be treated as if it was a box. If I had 5 BHN cable boxes and returned one of them, the other 4 should still work. Supervisor said the problem was that whoever scheduled the install, listed both of my cablecards (the one I was requesting, as well as the one I've had over a week now) as pending installs... [As it turns out, one of the reps I spoke to was new. Neither that rep nor her supervisor had any idea what an M-card or s-card was. So even though I hung up, they kept my account open trying to figure out how to work with cablecards. So "current" supervisor had to call that office to get those people out of my account before proceeding..] She said she knew what codes to use to set everything right. However, she did not share the procedure with her reps (shouldn't someone be training the reps???), and as of this moment it is still not working.

So now, I am waiting for the tech to come do the install in the new Tivo on Friday and troubleshoot the one they did last week. So, possible issues will be:

1- Tech comes with 1 card that is not an M-Card.
2- Tech cannot get previous install working again.
3- Tech gets everything working correctly, but when BHN gets my remaining DVR back in the office and removes it from my account, I lose my channels and have to go thru all this nonsense again.

Almost not even worth it!

Well, the installer came out this afternoon [he was 1hr late- but he called this morn @ 9 saying BH had double booked him- so he came over on his lunch], plugged in the MCard, and was gone in literally 20mins. Most of the time was spent waiting for the Card to update formware. After the firmware update he called into the 800 number on the screen, gave his tech id and provided the card number and host id. Viola!

Thruthfully, after ALL the horror stories with CableCard installs I really thought it was going to suck and the tech was going to be incompetent. The tech & BH pleasantly surprised me. After the TivoHD soaks for a few days, I'll return the 8300HD box, transfer lifetime from my S1 and be a happy TivoHD'er!

All my channels seem to work fine btw... [made sure HD channels & HBO worked before he left ]

Well, the installer came out this afternoon [he was 1hr late- but he called this morn @ 9 saying BH had double booked him- so he came over on his lunch], plugged in the MCard, and was gone in literally 20mins. Most of the time was spent waiting for the Card to update formware. After the firmware update he called into the 800 number on the screen, gave his tech id and provided the card number and host id. Viola!

Thruthfully, after ALL the horror stories with CableCard installs I really thought it was going to suck and the tech was going to be incompetent. The tech & BH pleasantly surprised me. After the TivoHD soaks for a few days, I'll return the 8300HD box, transfer lifetime from my S1 and be a happy TivoHD'er!

All my channels seem to work fine btw... [made sure HD channels & HBO worked before he left ]

That sounds a lot like my installation story... Returning the 8300HD a week later is what caused my HD channel woes. They seemed to have a problem removing the 8300HD after a CableCard was on my account. Then they had a problem putting the HD channels back on my account without an 8300HD being listed.

The 800 number on the cable card screen is for SA not Brighthouse so I don't know how your installer got your cable card to work by calling that number.

Does anyone that is using version 9.2j software and lives in the bay area able to receive channel 694 ?

Myself and a co-worker are not able to receive this channel. I have doulble checked my programming with Bright House and they have removed my cable card, rejoined it etc. and nothing seems to get channel 694 working.

My co-worked had channel 691 not working and channel 694 working just fine on version 9.1 software and when his Tivo HD upgraded to version 9.2j channel 691 started working fine and then 694 stopped working.

I have called Tivo and they indicate I need to call Bright House. I called Bright House and they do not have a solution.

That sounds a lot like my installation story... Returning the 8300HD a week later is what caused my HD channel woes. They seemed to have a problem removing the 8300HD after a CableCard was on my account. Then they had a problem putting the HD channels back on my account without an 8300HD being listed.

Crap.... I guess I'll have to make sure they don't remove any programming packages from my account when I turn the box in...

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomRaz

The 800 number on the cable card screen is for SA not Brighthouse so I don't know how your installer got your cable card to work by calling that number.

Well, I figured that was a BH number... he called BH and they took care of the activation...

Does anyone that is using version 9.2j software and lives in the bay area able to receive channel 694 ?

I think 694 is an SDV channel, which is why we can't pick it up. It hasn't bothered me since it's the combo Golf/Versus channel, but hopefully this isn't a sign of more SDV channels in the near future. I noticed this a few months ago here:

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Anyone in Orlando get an M card for a TivoHD? I see other areas in FL getting them...

I just got one installed (transfered my TiVo lifetime to a new TiVo HD). I'm in the Belle Isle area of Orlando with BrightHouse. They'd originally told us that they didn't have them and that they'd install 2 S cards, but the installer showed up with an M Card and had it up and going in about 15 minutes. He said they'd had the M cards for about a month and that this was his first M card install. He had installed S cards in TiVo's and TVs previously. It was a Scientific Atlanta card.

Funny... He made me install the card in the TiVo. Said it was policy :-)!

As a follow-up to my earlier post, I called BH, and asked the rep to make sure the installer brings a multistream card with them on Monday. She said she had no idea what that was. I told her the installer should, and asked that she please note it on the work order.

She was actually very friendly, and said she did so. It was less hassle than the guy who made the appointment gave me.

Now if the installer will just show up with the M-Card and do the installation as smoothly as my S3 install went months ago, I will be happy as a clam.

(The S3 install of 2 S-Cards went without a hitch. The installer was friendly and seemed genuinely curious. He followed the TiVo instructions, and the cards installed without a problem. He was gone in about 20 minutes or so. They ran without any issues until 9.1 when the cards required a reboot every couple of days to keep them happy. The issues seemed to have gone away with 9.2. Just wanted to share that in case others are concerned about the installation.

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BH installed a single multi-stream without an issue. (Actually, only a minor issue. The appt was for 8am-11am, but they could not find the cards, so they rescheduled for 2-5pm. The installer showed up right at 5)

The install went smoothly, and the installer was happy at how easy it was. I let him take the instruction sheet in case his next TiVo install did not have one.

I now have digital and HD in both living room on the S3 and bedroom on the HDT.

My experience last Saturday with BHN here in Orlando was a mixed bag. I specifically requested that the tech bring an M card, and if that wasn't available two s cards. He showed up on-time, brought two m cards and 4 s cards, just in case any were defective! This guy was knowledgeable on how to install / activate cablecards and even knew his way around the TiVo screens.

Unfortunatly, the people on the other end of the phone didn't know what they were doing when trying to activate the cards. Three hours later we finally got two s cards to work. Evidently something in the account setup wouldn't allow an m card to function correctly in my TivoHD. The tec didn't find this out until he was activating the s cards. And evidently something about the activation process wouldn't let him put one of the m cards back in (once activated in a box they can't be activated again in that box... something like that).

Anyway, he's coming back out tomorrow with a new m card and will set it up correctly.

My major problem with the cablecards is that they evidently don't pick up the lower tier channels (1 - 70~) in digital, as my 8300 did. They pick them up as analog. Does anyone know of a solution to this? Is this an scard issue? A cablecard activation issue? An account issue? I'll ask the tech tomorrow but it would help if someone here knew.

My major problem with the cablecards is that they evidently don't pick up the lower tier channels (1 - 70~) in digital, as my 8300 did. They pick them up as analog. Does anyone know of a solution to this? Is this an scard issue? A cablecard activation issue? An account issue? I'll ask the tech tomorrow but it would help if someone here knew.

That has been a major headache for me in the St. Pete market. I have talked to TiVo and Brighthouse. I've had a tech out and have talked to tech support over the phone. Apparently the Analog-Digital Simulcast that your old cable box gets is not available on cablecards in this area. I was told they have no plans to make them available. It doesn't bother me too much. Most of the content I watch I can see on the HD versions of the network channels. (In the 600s) Occasionally I'm stuck watching the analog versions of Discovery, Disney, etc.

If they ever get digital simulcast working here I would be very happy. I have a bad feeling that the cable boxes might be using Switched Digital Video for those, hence not available with CableCARDs.

Brighthouse and other cable providers never cease to amaze me. Once they get the contract for a given market they seem to stop being responsize to their customers when it comes to new technology and they appear to have a overall I don't care attitude.

I hope you M series card works out. My has been working fine for weeks now.

Right now, the only channels I can TTG recordings off of is the lower analog range and the HD locals. I wonder if the lower analog switched to the digital simulcast if the copy protection flag would be on like the other digital channels (and thus, un-TTG-able).

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In short, it appears Brighthouse in Birmingham has begun deploying ADS (I had a tech come out last Wed and tell me as much). Some of the channels deployed tune fine (for instance Spike TV) and some are simply giving me a black screen (Comedy Central, Sci Fi, etc.). The tech said he'd have to talk to head end (he was fairly knowledgeable but seemed a little dubious of the Tivo when the SA box with an M-card tuned fine). It also occurred to me that maybe the ADS is on SDV, but some of the channels come in fine, making me dubious. They were going to get back to me but you know how that goes...

So anyone had any luck with BHN in this regard? The tech was very friendly and was supposedly going to check with other cable card customers in the area. If I'm not working, no one should be from what I've understand. Sounds like it's definitely on head-end, but if I can find intelligent life I'm not sure what suggestions I can make...

Woo hoo ... finally some good news about Brighthouse and CableCARDs. I found this on my current bill:

Quote:

WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE BEGINNING JANUARY 2008, THE PRICE OF YOUR CABLE CARD WILL DECREASE BY $1.00 PER MONTH TO $2.95. YOU WILL CONTINUE TO RECEIVE THE SAME QUALITY SERVICE YOU HAVE COME TO COUNT ON FROM BRIGHT HOUSE NETWORKS.

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My cable company claims it does not have cards if I talk to local people but the company claims to have cards and knew what a HD Tivo was. Hmm, I am still waiting for the cards to be sent. My cable company is Mediacom and from reading a variety of different posts, I know that Mediacom in Georgia supplies cards so it should in my small town in California.

I just had Brighthouse tell me that I couldn't get the 'new' HD channels on my S3 with two working cablecrds.
Anyone in Indiana able to get the new channels with a cable card on a S3?
I don't get it, I get all the channels around the new ones?? How could this be??
I wish AT&T u-Verse would support CableCards, I'd switch yesterday.

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Ugh. So after not getting any response and setting up a new appointment, the tech comes out and says they recognize there is a problem with S-Cards.

Here's the little info I know. They can't get S-Cards to work with the new simulcast channels, but M-cards do. It sure sounds like they are using 2 way communication for this, but they claim SDV is not deployed. I've scheduled a call to try some M-cards, but does that really make any sense? Is there any logical reason M-cards could process ADS but S-cards would not??

Ugh. So after not getting any response and setting up a new appointment, the tech comes out and says they recognize there is a problem with S-Cards.

Here's the little info I know. They can't get S-Cards to work with the new simulcast channels, but M-cards do. It sure sounds like they are using 2 way communication for this, but they claim SDV is not deployed. I've scheduled a call to try some M-cards, but does that really make any sense? Is there any logical reason M-cards could process ADS but S-cards would not??

I certainly don't consider it impossible. The software on the M-card will be much newer than that on the S-card. The newer software will tend to be more fault tolerant than the old software (only for things the old software does) since the designers learn from experience. I consider it likely they have made an error in setting up the ADS, and think it possible that the M-cards contain a workaround for that error, while the S-cards do not.

(Note that I in no way guarantee the M-card will work - just that it might).

I certainly don't consider it impossible. The software on the M-card will be much newer than that on the S-card. The newer software will tend to be more fault tolerant than the old software (only for things the old software does) since the designers learn from experience. I consider it likely they have made an error in setting up the ADS, and think it possible that the M-cards contain a workaround for that error, while the S-cards do not.

(Note that I in no way guarantee the M-card will work - just that it might).

good point. most likely it is not implemented correctly, but the m-cards could have better written software. Thanks.

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Well, I may get the new HD channels fine, but now I've got quite a few of the analog channels missing, and they're all ones that moved in the recent re-org

I spent 90 minutes on the phone with Brighthouse today and they cannot get those 13 missing channels (all analog) to show up on my CableCARDs. They want to send a tech out to replace all four cards! I told them I'll schedule in January since we're going to be travelling and such for the next week anyway.

It can't be the cards ... something on their end must have gotten screwed up in the re-org, right?

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I spent 90 minutes on the phone with Brighthouse today and they cannot get those 13 missing channels (all analog) to show up on my CableCARDs. They want to send a tech out to replace all four cards! I told them I'll schedule in January since we're going to be travelling and such for the next week anyway.

It can't be the cards ... something on their end must have gotten screwed up in the re-org, right?